There’s Nothing You Can Do

Ephesians 2: 4-5

 “But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved.”

Over the past several years I have been waiting expectantly on God for answers to some big prayers. I wish I could say I’ve always been strong in faith but that’s just not true. Sometimes, when we are waiting and the answer is “no” or “not yet” or “wait” we start to doubt God’s love for us. Because if God loved us He would answer our prayers how and when we want, right? I used to think, “well maybe I’m not doing enough to earn His love. I’m not praying enough, or right, or reading my Bible enough or doing any of the things I think I should do to earn His love”. But I refuse to let the devil make me forget who or who’s I am because I’ve learned there is nothing I can do to make God love me more. That may sound harsh, but the great news is there is nothing I can do to make Him love me less!

God’s Grace

Backing up to the scripture, Paul says that because God loves you, He has given you His great mercy and saved you through His grace. He doesn’t say it is for any reason other than His great love. God is rich in mercy, meaning it won’t run out and because of that mercy and love, we receive grace. The definition of grace is the free and unmerited favor of God:

grace
ɡrās/
noun
1. simple elegance or refinement of movement;
2.the free and unmerited favor of God, as manifested in the salvation of sinners and the bestowal of blessings.

There was nothing we could do to earn that grace. It isn’t based on our worthiness it is simply because God loves you! It is only because of God’s love that He sent Jesus Christ to die for us; a sacrifice most of us could never imagine making. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” – John 3:16.

God’s Love

Shortly after I had my daughter Sofia I was holding her while she slept and starting at her in disbelief of how much I loved her. And then I started to think about God and how He loves us and I started to cry. I could never explain the amount of love I feel for my child and God loves us infinitely more than that. That is amazing! And He loves us too much to let us die in our sins so He has given freely of His grace. There’s nothing you can do. You have it. It is yours through Christ.

Ephesians 2:8-9 says:

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works so that no one can boast.”

Though we are saved by grace that doesn’t mean we can live how we want. We still need to have a pure heart, live Holy and follow His commands but God loves us even when we fall short. As a child, I remember thinking the worst thing I could hear from my parents was “I’m disappointed.” They could ground me, send me to my room, or take away privileges forever, but to hear “I’m disappointed”? Forget it. It wrecked me. And this is even truer with God. I want to make God proud. Someday I want to hear “well done”. When you love somebody you want to be pleasing to them and falling in love with God is no different. God’s love and grace allows us to do the works. It allows us to serve Him in every aspect of a Christian life.

No matter what you’ve done or haven’t done God loves you. Maybe you’ve backslid in your faith or in your actions. He still loves you.

There’s nothing you can do to make Him love you less and He wants you to live in eternity with Him.

He Gave us Life

The God of the universe – the same God who created every galaxy and hung every single star in the sky; the God who created planets, suns, and moons; who made our Earth spin, every creature on land and sea and knows every grain of sand, thought the world needed one of you. How can we ever doubt how much He loves us? He created us. He put life in our bodies and breath in our lungs and knows every single thing about you. He knows all our thoughts and actions good or bad, all our strengths and every shortcoming. And He loves us anyway! There’s nothing you can do.

One of those big prayers that I mentioned was for my daughter. For four years my husband and I prayed and waited for a baby and eventually we had to seek medical help. I don’t know why what is easy for many, was hard for us. Maybe it was so I would seek God’s face. Maybe it was so I would trust Him. Maybe it was because someday my testimony could glorify Him. I may never know why until I can ask Him face-to-face. But God. I know there was a purpose for my pain. And I know that His timing is perfect. He is intentional and all things work out for good. Sofia is grace. She is God’s love in human form. There was nothing I could do. God loves me. And He loves you too!

XOXO